Where Our Lives Changed

A/N: I'm sorry that this update took a slightly longer time than usual. I went on a holiday trip to a resort island for a few days, you see. Thank you very much for all the reviews and feedback for last chapter! Thanks to Dark Magician Girl KKC for the PM once again!

To Artificial Life Creator: I'm ashamed to say so, but I actually kind of agree with you that the dialogues are kind of off. Actually, I thought the 'flow' was kind of off... Hmmm... Let's just hope that this chapter will be slightly better.

To skymaster23: Let's just say that you were wondering about the right thing.

Disclaimer: 'Bleach' and the characters as well as the storyline featured in the works of Kubo Tite do not belong me.

By the way, remember that I said that the tentative title for this chapter was 'Up to No Good'? Well, I changed it. The 'Up to No Good' episode got a little longer than I expected, so I had it split into two again. So, here you go. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Seven- Worries

In the Shinigami Academy's sick-room, its most regular occupier sat on his bed with his arms crossed and his forehead creased into his frequent frown. For a young man like Jyuushirou, frowns had, by right, no reason to be a regular visitor to his pale but handsome face. Quite unfortunately for Jyuushirou however, he was unlike all the other young men his age. He was born with many reasons to carry a frown on his face. Worries about his health, worries about his siblings and worries about his family's financial circumstances - these are just some of the worries that the weak and poor man had to carry. Right now however, his constantly worrying mind was entirely occupied by another worry - the worry that his best friend might be up to no good. This, compared to all his other worries, was just an occasional one, but it was a worry big enough to take over Jyuushirou's mind entirely. His best friend was a passionate lover of trouble. It would have been easy for Jyuushirou to just say no to all the unwanted trouble if his friend was just a mere seeker for trouble; but no, his best friend was nothing like such. Kyouraku Shunsui was like a hurricane. Unsatisfied with the relative peace, Shunsui was very much under the impression that it was his duty to sweep up a riot, and sweeping and whirling Jyuushirou along was part of his right. There was no chance for Jyuushirou to escape the hurricane. A hurricane hears no reason.

'How did I get myself into this?' wondered Jyuushirou, shaking his head in desperation. He had previously agreed to help his best friend to 'do something' once he become well and fit, but with Shunsui's increasingly gleeful and mischievous grins during each subsequent visits, it became clear to Jyuushirou that Shunsui's notion of 'doing something' was not as simple as Jyuushirou had originally thought. I am so dumb! he thought, feeling irritated at himself, I should've asked Kyouraku before I agreed! He had tried his best to get Shunsui to spill his plans out, but Shunsui's lips were always sealed. He tried several times to ask the question at the most unexpected times in hopes that Shunsui would accidentally blurt the answer out, but he failed every single time - not that he had expected himself to succeed, of course. He knew Shunsui was too sharp to fall for such a silly trick. He was merely doing it in faint hopes that he might somehow succeed. Each time, Shunsui would simply curl his lips into a smile and answer in a sing-song voice, "I'm not telling you anything. You'll know when the time comes. Don't even think of backing out, Jyuu-Jyuu! You promised, remember?" It was this response that worried Jyuushirou the most. Jyuushirou felt that he was foolish enough to not enquire about Shunsui's plans when he first talked about it, but he was not so foolish as to be completely unable to discern the object of Shunsui's plans. If Shunsui was worried that Jyuushirou might back out upon hearing his plans, it must mean that his plans involved somebody big - somebody who was extremely important in the school; somebody that most people in their right minds would prefer not to offend; and somebody without the right mind like Shunsui would obviously love to infuriate.

It was ironic. On one hand, Shunsui had no interest in all the happenings around him. He claimed himself to be a peace-loving man, who had completely no interest in all the ugly things happening around him, especially chaos-causing happenings. On the other hand, he had no qualms about stirring up little troubles of his own, all in the name of good fun. That was how all the complains of sexual harassments had came about; and that was how all the little arguments with their teachers had came about too. Shunsui hated chaos, but he was chaos himself. The chaos that he brought about was usually rather small and enjoyable, and so Jyuushirou had never quite bothered to stop Shunsui much. But now that Jyuushirou had thought it through carefully, he was starting to regret it. I might have spoilt Kyouraku a little too much, he thought miserably, and now Hurricane Shunsui is finally going out of control.

It was simple for Jyuushirou to work out who Shunsui's intended target might be. After all, save for the beautiful Mizuno-sensei who was fortunately of the female gender, Shunsui hated all his teachers. He hated Nakazawa-sensei for his endless blabbering on boring subjects. He hated Arisada-sensei's disgusting advances towards him. He hated Genryuusai-sensei's old-fashion nagging, preaching, and most of all, his critical (and in Shunsui's opinion - ignorant and narrow-minded) remarks on his flamboyant mannerisms. Indeed, there were many targets for Shunsui to choose from, and a person who did not know Shunsui well would probably have some trouble working out the likely target. For Jyuushirou however, it did not require even a single drop of brain juice. Jyuushirou knew Shunsui well. Shunsui liked to pick on the big fish, and the biggest fish in town was definitely Genryuusai-sensei. And to Jyuushirou, that was bad news. Really bad news.


As Jyuushirou thought about Shunsui, he shifted uncomfortably in his bed. He was waiting for the school nurse of the day to arrive to do his body check-up. The sick-room of the Academy was managed by the lower seats of the Gotei Thirteen's Fourth Division. Every day, one of the lower seats of the Fourth Division would be sent to be on duty in the Academy's sick-room. This was to give the lower seated officers some practical training with minor cases. However, since Jyuushirou's case was anything but minor, a higher seated officer (the tenth seat and above) would occasionally be assigned to the sick-room for the day to check on Jyuushirou. On days whereby Jyuushirou was likely to be discharged, a higher seated officer would definitely be given the duty as the school nurse. Jyuushirou needed to get the 'okay' from the officer before he was free to be released from his 'cell with four white concrete walls'.

The school nurse on duty today was the third seat of the Fourth Division, Unohana Retsu. Unohana Retsu was a pale young lady with long black hair who was a couple of hundreds of years older than Jyuushirou. Out of respect for her as a shinigami senior, Jyuushirou often respectfully address her as senpai. Like all the other current shinigamis, she had received no academy training in Shinigami skills. All current shinigamis either had private training (i.e. those filthy rich nobles who were rich enough to hire tutors), or they somehow managed to figure out how to control their reiatsu on their own (i.e. those poor unfortunate disadvantaged Rukongai commoners with some natural talent). From what Jyuushirou had heard from some of the other officers, Unohana-senpai was the daughter of a prominent high-class noble family in Seireitei. She had received private training in Shinigami skills, and was rumoured to be extremely talented and skilled in Kendo despite her gentle high-class lady-like demeanour. However, instead of joining one of the offensive divisions of the Gotei Thirteen, Unohana-senpai chose to join the medical-specialised Fourth Division. She was a dedicated healer indeed - so serious was she in taking care of her patients, and so good her healing skills were, she was promoted to the third seat within five years of joining. Although members of the Fourth Division were often ridiculed upon, Jyuushirou was told that Unohana-senpai was often treated differently. It was not difficult for Jyuushirou to understand why though. It was not really because of Unohana-senpai's status as a member of a prominent family. It was also not really because of Unohana-senpai's rumoured prowess in combat. Unohana's serious, dignified and all-knowing demeanour was often sufficient to strike both fear and respect in peoples' hearts.

After a little more fidgeting by Jyuushirou in his bed, Unohana-senpai finally arrived for Jyuushirou's body check-up. With 180 years of experience with his frequently ill body, Jyuushirou did not actually need any medical check-up to know his current health condition. The body was his after all, and he knew fully well that he was fit to be discharged today. Usually, Jyuushirou could not wait to be discharged, but today was different. For once, Jyuushirou wanted to stay in his 'concrete cell' - at least for a few more days. Maybe a few days later, Kyouraku might give up on his grand plan, Jyuushirou thought inwardly, trying his very best to convince himself with something that he knew was unlikely. "S...Sen... Senpai," he started, as he looked away from Unohana-senpai in an attempt to avoid looking at her in the eyes. Jyuushirou was bad at lying, and lying to Unohana-senpai who had a pair of wise and strangely penetrating eyes was not just difficult for him, but also scary. He knew that he had practically no chance of succeeding, and knowing such a fact frightened him all the more. It was no exaggeration to say that Unohana-senpai was one of the last people in the world that he would want to lie to. Nevertheless, he had no choice. He had to do it.

"Yes, Ukitake-kun?" his senpai answered with her quiet soothing voice. Perhaps it was due to her job as a medical practitioner, because to Jyuushirou's great discomfort, she immediately turned to look at him to give his words her full attention.

Trying his best to ignore her gaze, Jyuushirou stuttered on, "Ummm... Senpai, I don't think I'm feeling very well. I umm... M... My head feels a little heavy... I think my fever might be coming back. I... I should probably stay here a little more, don't you think?"

"Really? I've just taken your temperature, and it was fine. You don't seem to be showing any signs of illness right now too. Don't worry, Ukitake-kun, you should be fine. You can always come back again later if you really feel unwell," responded Unohana-senpai with her kindly tone. Her eyes however, twinkled with a little amusement, as though she knew what Jyuushirou was up to. In fact, even without looking at her eyes, Jyuushirou was almost sure that she knew. He suspected that she might even be enjoying it. "I'm sure you are eager to be discharged, right?" she added, probably on purpose.

"No, no, senpai! I'm feeling very unwell!" protested Jyuushirou in response, with great emphasis on the word 'very'. "Really! I... I think I have a sore throat!" Jyuushirou tried again, grabbing his throat lightly with his both hands to indicate its seriousness, "Yeah! I have a sore throat!"

"You don't sound hoarse at all, Ukitake-kun."

Maybe it was out of instincts, Jyuushirou agreed with her by muttering to himself in an audible voice, "Oh yeah... I don't..."

It was a stupid mistake; and upon his own realisation of it, he tried to cover up in a somewhat comical way with obvious great desperation in his tone. "No! No, senpai, please listen to me!" he begged. "I mean, I, ah, made a mistake. It's my stomach that hurts! Not my throat!" he finished lamely.

Once that excuse came out of his mouth, he regretted it straight away. There was no point in lying about his health condition anymore. With those lousy excuses of his, even an idiot could easily see that Jyuushirou was lying, let alone a person like Unohana-senpai. Sighing and shaking her head with an air of slight amusement, Unohana-senpai finally decided to shoot the question. "Ukitake-kun, what exactly is wrong with you today? With that honest nature of yours, you should know that you are a not a very talented liar. In fact, and you must pardon me from saying so, you're terrible. Very terrible."

In response to that, Jyuushirou ended up doing something really stupid. He did not know what prompted him to do something so dumb and ridiculous. Perhaps it was because of his frustration at his hopeless ability to lie. Perhaps he had spent too much time with Shunsui that he had unconsciously been influenced by Shunsui's verbal nonsense trait. Or perhaps it was because there was no way that he could have answered her with the truth. He could not possibly tell Unohana-senpai that the reason for his reluctance to leave the sick-room was because he did not want to join Operation Hurricane Shunsui: Attack of the Old Mountain. That might land Shunsui in trouble! In his moment of panic, Jyuushirou mindlessly blurted out the first thing that came to his mind: a sentence that Shunsui always used on the on-duty female school nurses every time they tried to kick him out after visiting hours, "The truth is, I just want to spend more time with you here!"

The moment that cursed sentence spilled out of his mouth, Jyuushirou's face reddened and his eyes widened with horror. Even Unohana-senpai's normally calm face betrayed a slight hint of surprise. "NO! NO! THAT WAS NOT IT, SENPAI!" he exclaimed in alarm, waving his arms frantically as though to cancel all that he had said. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I MEAN, OF COURSE I WANT YOU HERE, BUT I DO NOT WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOU! ARGH! NO, NO! WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? I MEAN, I WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOU BUT I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY, SENPAI! I- I- I MEAN, I MEAN... ARGH!"

To Unohana-senpai's greater surprise, he suddenly used both his hands to whack his head hard a few times in frustration. He then took several deep breaths to calm himself down. Finally, in a weak voice and with his head staring down at his bed in total embarrassment, he whispered, "Senpai, I'm terribly sorry. Can you please forget what I've said earlier?"

Unfortunately or not, poor Jyuushirou did not get to hear her answer, because at that particular moment, Shunsui burst into the room loudly and boomed, "Shiro-chaaaannn! Are you ready to gooooooooo?" It did not take Shunsui more than a couple of seconds to notice that the atmosphere in the sick-room was strangely awkward. Freezing in his steps, Shunsui looked from Jyuushirou to Unohana-senpai and from Unohana-senpai back to Jyuushirou with great bemusement and also interest. "Hey, what's wrong with the both of you? C'mon, fill me in!" he asked with a crooked grin on his face as he walked towards Jyuushirou and Unohana-senpai. "What did you do to the pretty senpai over here, Jyuu-Jyuu?" he teased. Fearful of exposure, Jyuushirou turned his guilty and embarrassed face away from Shunsui. "Ah! I know! You confessed your love to her!" chirped Shunsui, meaning it as a joke, not knowing that his joking words were spot on. Horror from the recent trauma filled Jyuushirou. He rose quickly from his bed, seized Shunsui and clapped a hand over Shunsui's mouth. "Shhhhhhhhhhhh..." he hissed at the gagging Shunsui. Forcing himself to muster the courage to look up at Unohana-senpai, he gave her a stare that was both apologetic and embarrassed. "Sorry," he mouthed.

With a kind look and eyes filled with understanding, Unohana-senpai offered him a small comforting smile and replied, "With those quick movements of yours, I'm sure you've no reason to stay. You can be discharged." With that, she turned to leave the sick-room, leaving Jyuushirou free to change into his school uniform.

Once Unohana-senpai left the room, a relieved Jyuushirou released the still-gagging Shunsui. "I'm... I'm right?" was the first thing Shunsui spluttered, as he turned to look at Jyuushirou with an incredulous look on his face, unable to believe that his best friend had actually confessed his love to somebody. Heaving a great big frustrated sigh, Jyuushirou nodded. Shunsui's jaw dropped heavily. "It was an accident!" Jyuushirou added quickly upon seeing Shunsui's reaction."I didn't really confess my love! No, it wasn't love! I accidentally used that line that you use all the time to flirt with the school nurses. I didn't mean it that way though! I panicked! It was unintentional and unforeseen, if you must know. It was all just an accident."

"Oh..." responded Shunsui slowly as he processed the information. "But... But why did you use that line in the first place?" he asked, clearly confused. It took him only a few seconds to realise the reason though. "Ohhhh!" the clever Shunsui exclaimed in realisation. "You idiot! If you didn't want to join in the plan, you should've said so!" he chided.

"Well, if I've said so, would you've agreed?" Jyuushirou retorted, with an eyebrow raised.

"Probably not," answered Shunsui admittedly, "But I know now! Don't worry. You don't have to join in the plan!"

"I've promised you my part," reminded Jyuushirou.

Waving a hand, his best friend assured him with an earnest tone, "No, no, it's okay! Really! I'm sorry about it anyway!"

Silence filled the room for a minute. Jyuushirou looked as though he was thinking something through. Finally, Jyuushirou broke the silence. "Kyouraku, are you really going to go ahead with the plan?"

"Yep," chirped Shunsui, without any hesitation at all.

Jyuushirou's next course of action depended on Shunsui's answer to his question, but it was not Shunsui's affirmation that gave Jyuushirou the answer to his question though. It was Shunsui's lack of hesitation. The lack of hesitation was a sign of determination - in this case, determination for the wrong thing, unfortunately. If only Shunsui could develop the same determination for his studies as well, he thought in exasperation.

"Well, I guess I'll have to join in then," he informed Shunsui with a matter-of-fact sort of tone.

"No, no! You don't have to! I'm not going to force you into this, Jyuushirou!" Shunsui reassured him once again, taking care to address Jyuushirou with his proper name. He normally addresses Jyuushirou by one of his many nicknames in their casual conversations, but during times when he needed to show that he was not joking in any way, he used 'Jyuushirou'.

Looking at Shunsui, Jyuushirou gave a great big sigh again. "Listen, I'm getting myself into it willingly this time round. Honestly speaking, although I don't know anything of your great big plan, I think it is stupid. But if I can't dissuade you from engaging in something stupid, then I must do the stupid thing together with you."

"Why?" asked Shunsui, although he had a feeling that he already knew Jyuushirou's answer to his question. After all, if Jyuushirou were the one with a crazy plan (although Shunsui did not think it likely), he would say and do the same too.

"Well, I need to be in the plan with you to drag you out of trouble when things get out of hand!"

Author's Notes: Okay, I'm not too sure this chapter flows well, especially the lower part. It's 4.37 am now in my country though, and I'm kinda tired. I'm going to bed soon. I'll look through this chapter again tomorrow and see if more editing to the chapter is needed, okay? By the way, except for the part about Unohana being good in Kendo, the rests of the stuff about Unohana were made up by me. The last part of the chapter was kind of inspired by Operation Rescue Rukia from the SS Arc. I wanted to give Shunsui a reason for helping Jyuushirou. After all, he risked his life and captainship to save a girl who was not even part of his division.

4) I've always believed Shun-chan to have an elegant and neat handwriting. What do you think?

Okay, this is it. Thank you for reading this chapter. Please help me review!